Apple and Android phones were hacked by Italian spyware, says Google

Hacking tools from an Italian company were used to spy on Android and Apple smartphones in Italy and Kazakhstan, Google said in a report released on Thursday.

Milan-based RCS Lab, which claims to have European law enforcement agencies as clients, has developed tools to spy on private messages and contacts from targeted devices, according to the report.

Google’s findings about the RCS Lab come as European and US regulators weigh potential new rules on the sale and importation of spyware.

“These vendors are allowing the proliferation of dangerous hacking tools and arming governments that would not be able to develop these capabilities in-house,” Google said.

Apple and the governments of Italy and Kazakhstan declined to comment.

RCS Lab claims that its products and services comply with European rules and help law enforcement agencies investigate crimes.

“RCS Lab personnel are not exposed to or participate in any activities conducted by the relevant customers,” the company said in an email, adding that it condemns any abuse of its products.

Google said it took steps to protect users of its Android operating system and warned them of spyware.

The global spyware industry came under the global spotlight when Israeli spy company NSO’s Pegasus software was discovered in recent years as having been used by various governments to spy on journalists, activists and dissidents.

While the RCS Lab tool may not be as stealthy as Pegasus, it can still read messages and view passwords, said Bill Marczak, a security researcher at the digital surveillance agency Citizen Lab.

On its website, RCS Lab describes itself as a producer of “lawful interception” technologies and services, including voice, data collection, and “tracking systems.” The company says it handles 10,000 intercepted targets daily in Europe alone.

In some cases, Google said it believed hackers using RCS spyware worked with the target’s internet service provider, which suggests they had ties to government-backed actors, said Billy Leonard, a senior researcher at Google.